In the past, tools have been used to monitor data traversing a network and generally recognize or categorize the content of the data. These tools are employed for various reasons including efforts to identify instances in which certain types of data (e.g., secure data such as credit card numbers) are sent from and/or to computers or individuals who do not have the authority to send or receive such data.
While various tools have been developed, it would be desirable to make further use of the information relating to the data of the information transmitted via a network. For example, it would be advantageous to assign classifications or additional classifications to the entities transmitting the data based upon the classification of the data itself. Moreover, it would be advantageous to be able to change the criticality of a data transmission event based on the classification of the entities transmitting the data. To date, however, conventional tools have not utilized the information relating to the classification of the data being transmitted in order provide these functions.